I have pretty much given up on vegetables because my trees have grown and the yards are rather shady now. Between that and our normal cloudy days, not enough sun for most veggies.

I switched over to fruit (tree and berries), and have been having a lot of success. One nice thing about clay is that it contains a lot of minerals and is usually very healthy for plants, if you can work past the heavy wetness of it. Maybe in Alberta the clay isn't as wet as it is here.

Imp

If all the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit,

for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to the man.

All things are connected.Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth.

I would not use straw bedding that is freshly from the coop in a bed that i plan to plant this year. It is best to let the chicken poop compost before planting near it. I just made new beds this year and used fresh new straw. Now i would rec commend that you try to find straw that is not seeded. The straw i used had seeds in it and they are now trying to grow, so that makes it a bit more of a pain to deal with.

Hi, my garden was started on clay and rocky soil. After 11 years of picking up rocks, and adding leaves, hay, wood shavings, ash and loads of loam out of the forest, I finally have a fertile plot of ground. I've been using rabbit poo to fertilize, but started tilling the chicken poo, and the bedding in last fall. Rabbit droppings can be used anytime, but chicken manure has to be composted or given time to break down.